Pages

A little over a year ago I tried cooking lentils for the first time and it did not go so well. It seemed that no matter how long I cooked them they just did not soften. That put me off lentils for a while but recently I have been wanting to give them a second chance. I was thinking about doing a simple lentil dish with some vegetables and aromatics to show off the lentils. I was a bit worried that the lentils would be a bit plain and I remembered seeing a sausage and lentil dish that looked nice. I thought that some tasty sausage would rescue the meal if the lentils proved to be boring. I wanted some green vegetables in the meal and having recently enjoyed some
sauteed Swiss chard
I thought that it would round out meal perfectly.
The lentils smelled amazing while they were cooking. My fears of flavourless lentils were quickly thrown aside and I was eagerly awaiting for them to finish cooking. I made sure to test the lentils a few times around when they were supposed to be done to make sure that I caught them when the were al dente. The lentils turned out really well. They smelled great, were full of flavour, and I enjoyed their texture. The sauteed Swiss chard and Italian sausage finished the meal off nicely. I was using up some leftover sausage from my freezer and the sausage ran out before the lentils and Swiss chard so I enjoyed the leftovers with a fried egg on top for breakfast. I am now looking forward to cooking with lentils again.

Sausage on Lentils and Greens

ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

1 clove garlic (chopped)

1 small onion (chopped)

1 carrot (chopped)

1 rib celery (chopped)

1 cup puy lentils

1 bay leaf

~2 cups water (or broth or stock)

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon oil

2 links Italian sausage

1 handful parsley (chopped)

directions

Heat the oil in a pan.

Add the garlic, onion, carrot, and celery and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the lentils and bay leaf and cover in water.

Simmer covered until the lentils are al dente, about 20-30 minutes.

Season the lentils with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a pan.

Add the sausage and cook until golden brown on all sides and fully cooked.

I love to make a Bobby Flay recipe with lentils, beets and bacon. Your sausage dish looks great but I have to admit I'm even more intrigued with the fried egg. I've never thought of that and it sounds delicious! Thanks for a great idea.

1. On the stove top in a large soup pan, heat the water on medium high till almost boiling. 2. Add the lentils, tomatoes, carrots, garlic, savory and parsley. 3. Salt and pepper to taste as well 4. Cook till the lentils are done 45 min. or more 5. It's important to note that you don't want this dish to boil, but just simmer under the boiling point. The lower and slower you can cook the soup will also enhance the flavors. However, if you don't have time for low and slow, this hour version will also be great

Ina Garten offers a great tip to speed up cooking lentils: She pours boiling water over the dried lentils and lets them steep for 20 minutes or so while prepping the other ingredients, then they cook must faster and are definitely tender. Both of your dishes look amazing!

Chard, sausage and legumes are a fantastic combination! I don't know if you used tomatoes in your previous attempts (like cooking them in tomato sauce) but there is an issue with the acid in the tomatoes that makes the lentils stay hard...

I love the idea of the egg over the lentil stew. It makes it such a comforting dish for some reason. Lentils won't cook well if you salt the water while they cook. Could it be that this one the reason with your first lentil experience?

-Put few broken eggs in boiling water (with 1 spoon vinegar and pinch of salt). -When the white covers yolk (4-5 minutes) are ready. /the yolk must stay soft/-Put few spoons yogurt in a plate, then the boiled eggs.-Cover with fried butter with red pepper powder / be careful not to burn the pepper :)/

So glad you got to the lentil Nirvana in the end - I absolutely adore them. I often make them with garlic, ginger and a cirry spices, then boil them in stock and they turn out fantastically. Sausages are such a classic accompaniment and I love the addition of the greens!

Thanks for the recipe. I made the lentils today for my family's lunch. (I didn't have any greens or sausage in the house.) I prepared them according to your instructions and seasoned them to taste with salt, pepper, onion powder and paprika. They were wonderful and even my finicky 3 year old ate them. These are great.

Post a Comment

About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.